Load work?

W

William Suter

Well-known member
I had kinda put my ZRO Delta on the back shelf for a while but did have some rounds loaded to try when the time came. I decided to go to the club and took the rifle with me. Bullet is a 55 grain Sierra Varmint, Varget powder and Remington 7 1/2 primers seated 2.250. Starting load was 25 grains and I bumped it 1/2 grain every 5 rounds until I got to 27.5 which is well over book max. the 25 grain load was about 1 1/2"group with three in a half inch and the other two in a half inch, still 1 1/2", Meh! Then 25.5 hit a node and had a nice 3/4 inch group which made me smile. Then 26,26.5,and 27 grains opened up hovering around 1.250-1.5 inch groups. Pretty normal for this rifle. Then the 27.5. Three through the same hole and the last two just out. Probably just a fuzz larger than a nickle. I like that but it is a HOT load although there are no pressure signs. Of course I went without my chrono or my spotting scope so until I was finished I had no idea of group sizes. My thoughts are load a few more of the25.5 and a few of the 27.5 and check for speed and accuracy again. Its crazy. The barrel was hot and so was the load and shot its best group. Go figure???
 
I worked up a load with Varget for my Sako L461 222 RemMag, way back in the 1990's, about when Varget came out.

I found a published load for a 223, using 27.5grs of Varget, and since the 222RemMag case has about 5% more capacity than the 223, I figured I should be able to go to about 29.0grs of Varget with a 55gr Nosler CT or 55gr Sierra Gameking.

At 29.0grs, the chrono read 3,525 with the Sierra and 3,575 with the Nosler CT. That is close to 22-250 speeds, and I had no pressure signs, at all. Plus, it is very accurate.

I've backed off that load a bit, and the coyotes do not know the difference.
 
New here but I've been reloading for a few years, 22 to be exact. I will say I have more reloading manuals than my wife probably doesn't know about, but when it comes to load development I always start there but I cross reference everything and look for pressure signs. You did everything I would have done, you can back it down if you Chrono it and barrel life becomes a concern. If you don't have pressure signs, happy with the accuracy, and barrel life I wouldn't change anything brother. Max loads in manuals are very conservative nowadays.
 
Turkish Donkey said:
"Max loads in manuals are very conservative nowadays."
Click to expand...

I think the bullet and powder makers have gotten more precise pressure testing equipment, and that's why they are conservative nowadays.

In a few movies, I've seen where a sniper was going to take a really, really, long shot, the sniper would lay a few cartridges in the sun to heat them up to get more velocity and make the long shot easier.

That drives me up a wall!
 
The Herters cases have just a bit more room in them, and 29.0grs of Varget came to about 3/16th" from the top, while the Rem cases were about 1/8th" from the top.

Both cases would compress the powder a bit when seating a bullet.

I've not had any issues with bullets being pushed out of the cases with a compressed load, but then I don't load 500 at a time and leave them sit for several years.
 


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